Harrison Ford has made it very clear that Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny will be his final appearance as Dr. Henry Jones Jr. The film, which screened at 2023’s Cannes Film Festival, opens in just over a month and the press tour is already in full swing. In a recent interview with EW’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy gave an update on what the future holds for the franchise.
One of two iconic characters brought to life by Ford, Indiana Jones has been at the center of five films and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles TV series and according to Kennedy, that’s all there will ever be…for now. “It’s Harrison’s last entry. That’s how we look at the Indy franchise,” said Kennedy. “I mean, truthfully, right now, if we were to do anything, it might be in series television down the road, but we’re not doing anything to replace Indiana Jones. This is it. There are five movies that Harrison Ford did. And Harrison is so specific and so unique to creating this role. We just, Steven [Spielberg] agrees, we just wouldn’t do that.” Perhaps partially fueled by the poor reaction to Alden Ehrenreich replacing Ford as his other iconic character, Han Solo, it seems the decision has been made to leave well enough alone.
While that’s pretty a definitive answer on the future of the character, Kennedy’s mention of a potential television series is of note, however. While there may not be more Indiana Jones, the world the character has inhabited over the years included many colorful characters and big-name IPs are hard to come by in Hollywood. Lucasfilm has already dipped its creative toes into that Indy IP stream once, beginning development on a streaming series centered around Indy’s mentor, Abner Ravenwood; however, that project was reportedly abandoned as the studio refocused its efforts on Star Wars. For now, it seems that fans of the character will have to make do with what’s out there and enjoy Ford’s last ride.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hits theaters on June 30th.
Source: Dagobah Dispatch
